Reviews - Die Mission | The StoryGraph

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Even better than the first one, this second book in the series builds on the the first Nov by adding some much needed context and additional study of how the system in place affects the peoples that have been conquered.

darkenergy's review against another edition

4.0

Definitely a different direction from the first book, which is a mix of the narrator's past and considerably more uncertain present. For fairly obvious reasons, the innovative storytelling that marked the first book is off the table here, which I think allowed the thinness of the plot to become more visible. Not to say it's a bad plot, because the idea of both sides being losing ones is more than compelling, but instead of the deus ex machina being a literal alien deus ex machina (which is something I rather liked in the first one, whether or not it was intentional), there is a bit of a point where the narrator, despite all the insane risks she takes, starts seeming it. Not that it's as bad as books where there's no logical reason for this to happen, but it does undercut the seriousness of the conflict somewhat.

abby833's review against another edition

4.0

challenging mysterious medium-paced

seivarden's review against another edition

5.0

I need Book 3 like yesterday.

toggle_fow's review against another edition

5.0

Why did it take me so long to get around to continuing this series?

There were reasons, but now they all seem dumb. This was a GREAT experience and I love one (1) Justice of Toren One Esk Nineteen.

Honestly, I have no idea what the plot-relevancy of this book even was. Anaander Mianaai's schizophrenic civil war barely even featured. We just jet over to that planet where Lieutenant Awn was, and then spend the next short age ruthlessly attacking all of its crimes and injustices. I'm sure this connects to the bigger plot somehow, but honestly I don't care. It was great.

It's like Breq spent a thousand years standing around impassively while having a LOT of opinions and now that impassiveness is no longer the rule, decides to wage a systematic military campaign with those opinions. The way (she?) keeps an intense, instinctive eye on everyone she cares about should be creepy, but it's not. Instead, the way she pays attention to everything, from the smallest detail to the most massive, just feels like caring.

The entire time was just Breq maneuvering to emotionally, materially, and politically improve people's lives. Why? Not sure. But I'm not complaining. I loved the whole thing. The politics were great, the loyalty dynamics of ships and crews were great, the intricate dynamics of relationships -- everything was great.

I can't wait to read the next one and have faith it will be just as fabulous.

sfcohen's review against another edition

4.0

I really needed some good solid sci-fi, and this trilogy is just the ticket. The characters are well-drawn, and there's enough ambiguity to keep you thinking. In Radchaai culture, everyone is referred to as "she." Perhaps I'm slow on the uptake, but it wasn't until early in book 2 that I realized that is only the form of speech, and perhaps some of the personnel are what we would recognize as biologically male. And Julie and I disagree on what it means that someone is an ancillary (or a ship). If this doesn't make sense to you, you'll just have to read the books...